If by "official" you mean "tax exempt", then the answer is no. It's an official church to me though, and since it's been empirically proven* that the entire universe revolves around me...

Spiritually, the most official way to ordain yourself is to become the captain of a pirate ship--but since pirates aren't very good with keeping to regulations, it seems that pretty much anyone who wants to be a minister can declare themselves one. Getting the state to recognize your FSM-given right may be a little trickier though.

The ordination laws vary from state to state, you'll have to see what they're like in yours. Only way I know of is to start your own chapter and have them recognized, or if you just want it to officiate a wedding you can get one online from the ULC.

More than just not having tax exempt status, there's not even an over-arching organization that would be there to get the tax exempt status. Bobby's being very careful about any sort of top-down structure (like the catholic church) and well as reservations about donations. It's pretty much up to all of us to create local grassroots Pastafarian organizations, and then link them up until we have a national/international network.

Depending on how your own local chapter goes, you may very well be able to get tax exempt status. If you're non-profit, you should be able to get 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

Libervurto wrote:And Lo, the FSM said unto Bobby, "Whomsoever speaketh the word of the FSM (me) shall be exempt from taxation, for they are truly awesome."

How many FSMists are there in the world? I would wager we have enough to be officially recognised.

The problem is if people don't pay taxes, how then do our respective Governments by for essential services like educations, health care (except obviously in the US), the military, a social security safety net, fire fighters and the police? If people stop thinking of tax not as a burden, but as part of our joint responsibilies as citizens and neighbours, then there wouldn't be the need for tax exemption.